At a Coin's Flip
by HarrowedWriter
Summary: Koin is not a lucky guy. Having been raised by his grandmother, he takes care of her dutifully now, working temp jobs and wishing for a more interesting life. But one should be careful what they wish for, for it might just come true... With far more battle skirts than planned. A/T: Drama, Tragedy, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship.


**A/N: Hello! Welcome to my fic! A few disclaimers: I don't do harems, so if you like harems, you'll be disappointed but regardless, welcome! Secondly, the pacing for this chapter might seem a bit fast, but this is purely an introductory chapter. It lays the framework for the future, less hurried chapters, and serves as almost a concept sale to all of you. Third, I have a few idea for ships but I'm open to suggestions and would love to hear theorizing in the reviews. Finally, if you're from my other fic(Teal Tears) worry not! Another chapter of that will come around Thanksgiving is life is kind to me.**

* * *

_I'm young again._

_Everything is so much bigger at this age… _

_I find that I can't control myself. _

_I'm a silent observer in my own body._

_My mother wakes me up. Her bright crimson eyes hold the warmth of a crackling fire on a winter's night._

"_Wakie wakie sweetie! It's already lunch time. Your dad is making your favorite."_

_I hear my younger voice speak on its own._

"_Fried chicken?!"_

_I was an unhealthy child._

"_That's right! So get up and go wash your hands!"_

_My young self bolts up and runs past mom after a quick hug to go wash up. _

_As I washed my hands, I got a good look at myself in the mirror. _

_My young self was about six right now, I remember this night._

_My copper hair had a brighter sheen to it and my eyes, red and green(which my mother had told me was special and cool at the time) were both cheerful and glinting with joy._

_Young me washed their hands and splashed water on their face before drying and rushing out to meet with my dad._

_My dad…_

_I rounded the corner and saw him working on preparing the chicken._

"_Hey dad!"_

"_Hey change! Ready for lunch?"_

_My dad liked to call me change. I asked him why once, and he claimed it was because I was 'worth a whole lot of cash' and 'a great change to his life.'_

_I didn't really get it at the time. _

"_Yeah!"_

"_Good! Go get your mom, I need to talk to her."_

_Eager young me rushed off to get her from the other room._

_As I beckoned at her, she looked at me, "What is it sweetie?" _

"_Dad wants you!"_

"_Well let's go!"_

_As we walked, I asked mom, "Hey mom, when I grow up, can I be a hunter like you?"_

"_Oh Koin… You don't want that."_

"_W-What? Why not?"_

"_It's dangerous and not as fun as the tv makes it look! Wouldn't you rather be a chef?"_

"_Dad is cool, but I wanna protect people!"_

"_You can protect them from bad nutrition! That's just as important."_

"_But that's not as cool!"_

"_Oh honey, not everything has to be cool to be important."_

_That ended the conversation but my mood dropped significantly. I was a kid! All I cared about was cool things and looking cool._

_The low mood and sniffles that followed were only the precursor to what would happen afterwards._

_As I sat at the table sniffling, what looked to be an 18 karat run of bad luck started. _

_I didn't see what exactly happened first, but oil got on my dad's arm, causing him to yell in pain. _

_In alarm, he tripped and the oil got all over the kitchen counter, and him. _

_At the same time, a divine trick of bad luck caused the electrical socket connected to the fryer to spark, setting off a sudden and furiously growing blaze that began to engulf the kitchen._

_And my father._

_My mother reacted with the speed of a huntress, grabbing me and pulling me away, all while looking horrified at my father, who was screaming in agony._

_The fire began to spread quickly, I barely even had time to register what was happening before we were outside._

_The Vale fire brigade showed up quickly, and my mom argued with them to let her join the effort, but they refused. It was too dangerous, they warned._

…

_When all was said and done they did bring my father out. I didn't get to see his corpse, they didn't let me. _

_My mother did however, and that night the warmth left her eyes._

_From that point onward, the mother I knew was dead, in her place was a cold shell, closed off to the world at large._

_We moved in with my grandmother later that day, with nothing of our own left but the clothes on our back._

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

I gasp and sit up straight, "Whathe, huh…"

That nightmare again…

Or was I was just repressing bad memories?

Distant things repressed from years of cold stares.

Cold stares and distant, cold words from my mom.

My mom who was no longer with me.

A heavy sigh leaves my body.

Why do I miss her so much?

Trying to get over my somber, I notice that the alarm is still ringing.

An old thing, ancient almost. My grandmother has had it since she was a girl.

We generally can't afford to spend money on things like new alarms.

I hit the alarm and get out of bed.

Most people get up early in the morning, for class or for their day job. Me, I get up at noon. I'm not expected at the temp office for another hour or so anyway.

Crawling out of bed and gathering up my clothes, I take a shower and once I'm out, I look at myself in the mirror.

My hair remained the brightest part about me. A nice bright copper color.

Eyes, still green and red. I used to wear contacts to make them look more normal to people, but I didn't want to have an extra expense anymore.

Besides, after I finished school, I didn't hang around anyone who would make fun of me for being weird looking.

Sighing, I finish dressing and leave to the living room, where my grandmother sat reading.

"Morning grandma."

"Morning Koin. How are you this morning?"

"Fine, I slept alright." I lie as easily as I breathe.

"Good, don't be too late for work okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't be."

My grandma is old and infirm, she can mostly look after herself around the house but she can't work and needs me to take care of money and other things so we didn't end up homeless.

This has been my life ever since I was young. Since mom vanished.

"I'll make dinner tonight Koin, so don't worry about that, okay?"

"Thank you grandma."

She smiled at me, and after saying farewell, I left the house to start walking towards the agency.

...Walking is a daily routine for me, but I can't help but resent it sometimes.

Simply because it lets me think on what I miss out so often.

Sometimes I could see Beacon far, far in the distance. It reminds me of my old dream to become a hunter.

I gave up on that long ago, I knew I had no business doing things like that. People like me have enough to worry about just trying to get by, without grand dreams of being some kind of protector.

I protect my grandmother, that's all I'm destined to do.

And after she's gone?

Well, I don't know.

I couldn't find it in me to care, either.

[...]

I reached the agency and went right to where my boss' office was and got my assignment for today. The docks needed an overnight worker to move some boxes and take inventory, and I was the one for the job.

[...]

I sigh as I move to another crate on the dock. Just one of a thousand smaller crates amongst the hundreds of giant containers holding priceless items and regular commodities.

Another day another shitty temp job.

Ugh…

At my age a guy expects to be doing a bit more with their life.

I cast my gaze off towards the sky with another heavy sigh.

Living here at Vale was a constant reminder of how there were so many people doing so much more than me.

The future protectors of the world mixing with the current protectors and the rich and powerful who come to play and flex their muscles…

Suddenly, I was snapped out of my thoughts by the roaring of airship turbines and gasped in shock as I saw a carrier ship land in a clearing.

There are no landings authorized tonight, whatever this is, it isn't legal.

I quickly hid behind a large container and peered out at those rushing out.

Their iconography was known and feared by most people too weak to fight them.

"The White Fang…" I mutter, feeling the fear in my voice.

Then there was someone I didn't know, calling the shots.

I didn't think he was a faunus, but he bossed around the white fang like he was their leader. If I wasn't so freaked out I would find that strange.

"What the fuck what the fuck…"

Suddenly, a girl that looked around my age jumped down and put what looked to be a sword to the head honcho's neck.

"What the shit?"

I was running out of ways to express my shock at the goings on I was seeing.

Then things just proceeded to get more shocking.

More ships appeared overhead and an explosion sent the dark haired girl flying back towards my container, and I proceeded to hide out of sight.

If those thugs saw me, I'd be dead!

More explosions, the clashing of steel, and the joining of another participant all went by with me only knowing based on the sounds I could hear as I tried to see if I could find a way out.

Especially with those ships overhead, things were getting far too dangerous for someone like me.

What would my grandma think if I died on a temp job?

A girl's voice rang out over the din and things began to amp up even more.

"Don't worry Ruby! I am combat ready!"

I couldn't see the fighting going on but I knew it was keeping everyone's attention.

Maybe now I could get out of here!

As I rounded the corner of the container, I saw the girl single-handedly pulling down a VTOL. Said VTOL was heading RIGHT for me.

Just my luck, as usual.

It was all I could do to start running as it crashed into the containers and exploded, not only popping my ear drums but sending me flying.

I landed and found the air forced out of my lungs.

Can't stand…

Can hardly breathe…

Blacking out...

Fucking temp jobs…

[...]

I groggily opened my eyes, vision blurred to the point of blindness.

"He's waking up!"

The voice seemed to belong to a paramedic…

I could tell I was being watched.

Trying to sit up, I was immediately rewarded with a shooting pain across my back and chest.

"F-Fuck…"

"Sir, please be careful. You were injured in that explosion earlier but you should recover completely if you take it easy." The paramedic warned.

Once my vision began to stabilize I noticed the Paramedic wasn't the only one there.

The girl who pulled down the VTOL was there and before I could speak, she started rattling off apologies.

"I'm so very sorry! I had not noticed you were there! If I had, I would have attempted to aim somewhere less dangerous!"

"It's… It's fine. Wasn't your fault. Just my shit luck. Nothing I'm not used to."

"You're used to being hit by exploding airships?"

That caused me to smile and chuckle, but I immediately regretted it due to my bruising, "No… It's a long story. I don't want to bore you."

"If you say so!"

The girl seemed relieved that I was okay, which was a nice sentiment, although I found her a bit… Odd. Especially considering just how powerful she seemed to be.

I looked to the paramedic, "Am I clear to go now?"

"Almost. If you're feeling well enough, the police have requested you describe the events you saw. You're not in trouble, they just need your witness report."

"Ah… Right. Thank you."

I struggled to get out of the ambulance stretcher, which was done with a bit of help from both the paramedic and the girl.

The paramedic added, "By the way, we got your emergency contacts list from your temp agency, your grandmother is on her way to get you."

Ugh, she's not supposed to be leaving the house. Another thing I'm failing at I guess.

"Right, thank you."

The paramedic eventually found a walking cane to give me, which took the weight off a bit and let me walk, albeit very slowly.

"Agency?" The ginger asked after a few moments of silent walking towards where a group of colorful huntsman apprentices were.

"I've been working for a temp agency…"

"Temp… Agency?"

This girl must have lead some kind of sheltered life… Not that I blamed her. I was actually kind of envious. She's my age and never had to deal with shitty manual labor jobs.

"Basically… They contract you out to different jobs who need labor for a short period of time. It's tough work most times, but it keeps food on the table."

"Oh! That makes sense. Are you not a huntsman apprentice?"

"Oh no."

"Odd! You look like one."

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes and your hair look more colorful than normal people."

That's an odd way to put it. Sure I had heterochromia, one green and one red eye. Very edgy, I know. It made me the subject of a lot of jokes as a kid.

My hair, however, was just a bright brown. Nothing big.

"...Thanks?"

"No problem! My name is Penny Polendina!"

"Nice to meet you Penny. I'm Koin. Koin Baker."

There was a joke in there somewhere, both our names could mean money.

I was too sore to think of it though and it seemed to fly over Penny's head.

"I apologize again for what I did, Koin Baker! It was an accident."

"Don't worry about it, seriously."

We finally reached the group of characters, two of them seemed to be in the middle of a heartfelt conversation that had everyone's attention, even Penny's, so I simply quietly hobbled towards the waiting police who surrounded the perimeter.

They all looked mostly very close to each other, and I simply didn't feel like I belonged anywhere near them.

That was until a voice called out.

"Hey, hobbles! Where ya going?"

I turned to look and my jaw almost hit the floor.

Standing some feet away was a girl with long blonde hair, a perfectly muscular form, and fiery purple eyes.

She was so beautiful that I lost the snappy comeback I had in mind.

"U-uhm… to talk to the police."

Penny jumped in, "This is Koin, the person I almost murdered!"

Now that I was able to focus a bit more I noticed that just about everyone here was attractive, not just the blonde and Penny, except me of course. Even the monkey Faunus looked like he belonged on the cover of 'Playfaunus'

I shook it off, just teenage hormones I supposed. I was warned about those.

Besides it's not like I had much to compare people, I didn't get out much.

The blonde grinned, "Near murder is how I make all my friends!"

I didn't know who she was, but her joke brought a small smile to my face. "Is that so?"

"Yep! So does my sister, Ruby, she met Weiss here by exploding."

"E-Exploding?"

The girl who must be the blonde's sister protested with a whine, "Yaaanngg! Do you need to tell _everyone _about that?"

The newly named Yang nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, yes I do!"

Two others, who seemed to have been having some kind of heart to heart, joined their friends. One was a girl with long, raven hair and the other was the exact opposite, a girl with long bright white hair.

The white haired one spoke with a certain pedigree, "You're the one that got caught in the battle right? That's terribly careless of you."

"Hey, I didn't ask to be there for that. I was just doing my job moving cargo."

"Hmph. So you say." The way this girl was eyeing me made me feel uncomfortable, like she felt I had some kind of hidden motive.

"Hey Weiss, don't lay into him too hard, dude almost died." Yang defended me.

"Yes indeed, it was just a near-murder!" Penny added.

"That's just the thing. _Near _murder." Weiss pointed an accusing finger at me, "How could a civilian survive something like that? People without their aura unlocked don't have the protection to survive things like that!"

The black haired one spoke up, less accusatory but more… Curious. "That's true… How did you survive that if you're just a civilian?"

Squirming under the collective gazes everyone is giving me, I sighed, "I'm not some secret huntsman or something, alright? My mom was a huntsman, and from what I was told she unlocked my aura when I was really young so I would be safe, alright?"

The gazes seemed to soften and Yang's sister spoke up, "Your mom must have been a great huntress if she was able to activate your aura when you were that young! Is she retired?"

"No, she went missing when I was like, five. Apparently she was on a mission, nobody knows what happened to her."

"Wow, your mom went missing too." Yang prompts, "Me and Ruby here have some history with moms disappearing on us."

"Oh? Sorry to hear that. I guess we can relate to each other a bit then."

Weiss huffs, "A sorry thing to relate to someone with." She seemed eager to change the subject, "If you have your aura unlocked and a family history, why aren't you training to be a huntsman?"

"I have someone to take care of."

Just then, a very outdated car pulled up on the street. Slowly, my grandmother got out of the car.

She was an old, wrinkled, and weak looking woman. It was hard to believe that at one point she was apparently a great huntswoman.

Despite that, she was adamantly against me going and becoming one myself. 'You'll end up like your mom' she warned.

I believe her.

I looked back to the assembled huntspeople in training, "Well it's been nice but I need to give my statement and get home. I'm hoping for a payout from the temp agency for this mess…"

I got strange looks from the assembled people, except Penny, who just seemed happy to meet more people.

"Well, if you say so! It was nice meeting you." Yang stated with her seemingly characteristic charm.

"And to you, all of you."

"If you ever change your mind about being a huntsman, you should come to Beacon!" Ruby chimed in, despite the time of night she seemed pretty active right now.

"...I don't think that will happen, but if it does I'll let you know."

With that, I hobbled to meet my grandmother, who was hobbling just the same as me, so I could go talk to the police and leave for the night at last.

[Third Person POV, Team RWBY]

The car pulls away and team RWBY, plus a couple extras, turn to discussing the events of today.

"So Penny, you said you managed to pull down a ship? How'd you do that?"

"Uhm… I am very strong!"

That got a few raised eyebrows, but it was mostly dismissed.

"So the white fang was working with Adam? That's… So weird." Yang points out, "They'd never work with someone like him."

"They are now." Blake notes, "Seems they have a common goal."

After some more discussion, everyone began to head back to Beacon while the police started conducting their investigation of the crime scene itself for any additional evidence.

Yang noticed Ruby looking rather down as they headed for Beacon.

"Hey Sis, what's got you upset? The bad guys are beat and the day is saved!"

"Oh just… That guy earlier."

"Oh yeah, what's his name again?"

Penny chimed in, "Koin!"

"Thank you Penny. Yeah, Koin."

Ruby nods, "He seemed so sad, and not just about nearly dying." She pouts, "Like he really didn't like what his life was."

"Ah yeah… That sucks." was all Yang could offer. "Maybe we'll run into him again and you can talk him into applying for Beacon." She shrugs.

"Yeah… Maybe.'

[TIMESKIP, ONE VOLUME LATER. KOIN POV. "THE BREACH."]

...Life has been uneventful.

After that night I had to give a few testimonies to the VPD but after that, things went back to normal.

I did get to enjoy a few days of paid leave because of the injuries I sustained while 'on the job'.

That was long said and done though.

Many more days of boring work came and went, but today is the day I have off.

I decided to take my grandma out to the town square to do some shopping, since I had been saving up enough that we might be able to get some new things, like maybe a new alarm clock for me and some new books for her.

Tucsons was closed… Which I found odd. Apparently something bad happened to the owner, so we had to go to another book store not too far from there.

We were browsing books when a loud crash resonated down the street, and we began to see people start running down the street.

My grandma, who had been thumbing through a cheesy 'who done it' novel, frowned, "What's this ruckus about?"

"Let me look." I walked to the door and peered outside to see what people were running from…

And I saw a small horde of Grimm charging at people, cutting some down.

I slammed the door shut, "Grimm in the city! We need to hide!"

"Grimm in the city?!" Her eyes hardened, and I was reminded that my frail old grandma was once a master huntswoman, "The back of the shop!"

The bookstore owner let us and a few other patrons into the back and we hid.

That safety proves to be short lived when we hear a Beowulf Grimm burst into the front of the store and begin tearing it apart looking for humans.

We all fell completely silent, and the sniffing of the wulf's nose grew closer…

Closer…

Then it lets out a howl that causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.

"They found us!" A terrified woman screams.

My grandma looks at me, "Koin, dearie… Can you promise me something?"

I see a certain sadness in her eyes… Is she planning something?

"What's that?"

"Will you live your life well, child?"

"Y-Yes… Why?"

"Because I love you, and I know you have never had the chance to live your life before… But you need to live. For me, for your parents… For Remnant."

"G-Grandma…"

Then, as the door began to crack, Grandma straightened up her back with a grunt and struggled for a moment, before her aura turned on, a bright blue.

With a grunt, she lifts her cane… And the bottom flips open, revealing what looked like a gun barrel.

As the Grimm break down the door, she begins to fire.

The first wulf dies easily to the shots, and my Gran begins to hobble forward as I stand still, terrified and unsure of what to do.

Another appears, another dies.

The cane seems to have unnatural stopping power, I wonder if it had something to do with dust, or her semblance?

I should be doing something but I can't bring myself to move.

Eventually my gran reaches the front, which had been torn down by the invading Grimm.

Another round, another…

Then, just when I think the Grimm have stopped, a much larger bear-like Grimm shows up.

My grandma goes to fire a round and…

A click.

With that, she plants her cane on the ground and…

The Ursine gives one powerful swipe, sending her back and into the wall.

I'm immediately snapped out of my fear, "No, NO!"

Running to where her broken body was, I take her in my arms.

Somehow, she was still alive.

Barely.

"K-Koin… You need…" She coughs up blood, and I could tell she wasn't going to make it.

"You need to live… Live for me. Live for everyone… _Live."_

Then, she went limp.

Stuck holding her, I feel my vision began to blur with tears.

"No, god no… Not you too… Please!"

The Ursine grimm begins stomping towards me, and I look to it, fully expecting to join her soon…

Then a flurry of gunshots begin to ring out.

The Ursine lets out a massive roar before dropping from the sheer amount of fire power.

Soldiers, clad top to bottom in armor, quickly rush in.

"Secure the civilians! Keep them safe! Alpha squad, come with me, Bravo, check for wounded!"

I can only stare in shock as they all follow their orders.

One comes up to me and kneels down, "Wha- Ah… I'm sorry kid. I guess she was the one who killed those beowulfs…"

"Y-Yeah… My grandma…"

"She's a hero, kid… I'm sorry. We'll get her a proper burial once the situation is resolved."

The soldier left after that, and I was left holding my grandma.

As I stared at her lifeless face, I remembered a story she once told me…

"_Koin, dearie… Have you ever heard the story of the Champion?"_

_I was ten… Just a few years after my dad's death. My mom was still around… But she was always on missions._

_It was just me and grandma. Always._

"_No grandma… Tell me, please?"_

"_Okay dearie… Once upon a time, Remnant was a very different place to today. The Kingdoms didn't exist, and people were at the mercy of the Grimm…" _

"_That sounds bad grandma…"_

"_Oh it was terrible. But things began to change one day. They say in what would be the Kingdom of Vale, there existed a brave hero. He went around day and night saving people with his mighty powers and strength. They said with one look, he could turn back the tides of Grimm. They knew to fear him."_

"_Wow, he sounds amazing!"_

"_Oh he was! But he didn't start out like that."_

"_He didn't?"_

"_Oh, no no. He was just a young boy, much like yourself! With dirty copper hair and a hopeful glint in his eyes… Nobody said he would amount to anything, but he told them to wait and see. He said that one day, he would become a great hero. And with training and practice, he became the greatest to ever live. So much so, that he is remembered here in Vale second only to the King himself."_

"_Wow… He had hair like me?"_

"_That he did, and odd eyes too! Maybe you're more like him than you think?"_

"_Grandma, that sounds so cool… But I'm just Koin… I couldn't even… Back then…"_

_Grandma gave me a sad smile, "Ssh shh now, my dear. How about I sing you a song?"_

"_...Yes please."_

_She began to hum._

"_You are my sunshine…"_

"_My only sunshine…"_

"_You make me happy…"_

"_...When skies are gray…"_

"_You'll never know dear… How much I love you…"_

"_Please don't _take… My sunshine… Away…."

I continue to hum softly, broken up by my tears and sobs as I cradled my grandma close and sang our favorite song.

"Please…"

"Please… Don't take my sunshine away…"


End file.
